Solo travel

You can go to Lille from Paris by taking a bus or a train. I took a 3h bus and was really quick. One you get there you can walk around and see all main attractions that are closed to the city center. Food is not expensive. You should try les moulles with french fries and the go to have some dessert in a bakery store but not the gouffre cause it's really thing and small that's not worth the price. To finish you can go to the Citadelle a nice park to have some rest and a drink. I would recommend to do this just in a day cause there's no more else to do after that

Group travel

I want to talk about my experience in Lille because it was the first time I was hosted by a girl I had met online. I was with my roommate and our host let us stay for two nights in her place, she was such a lovely person to talk to and we could trust each other completely! I am very grateful for this experience and I hope I can do it again in the future. Lille is a beautiful city with cool architecture and some museums that we really enjoyed. The people are really nice too. I recommend it!

Lille is a big city so it's not always safe. There's been a few stories about safety issues. Tho nothing ever happened to me and nothing will happen to you either if you remain downtown. Try not to go in the south of lille too much and it'll be fine!

Live there for 4 years, metro Marbrerie, always felt very safe. Used to walk a lot during the day and night between my place and the center, I never had any problem. You will meet a lot of beggers and homeless in the center and the trainstation, as it is a crossroads there are a lot or poor people. They can be a bit forcing but never aggressive. At night you can meet drunk and drugged people in the center/train station. They can say shit and speak loud but never bothered me.

There are a lot of homeless people. Avoid going in less frequented areas at night if you are alone. On weekends, people party a lot so avoid drunk people (some are nice but others can be aggressive).